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Recollections of Antoine Grignon 



[From the Proceedings of the State Historical Society oi Wisi onsin lur 
I 91 3, pages 1 10-r ^6"! 



Madison 
Published for the Society 

1 9 14 



[Separate No. 156] 



Recollections of Antoine Grignon 



[From the Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 
'9^3> pages 1 10-136] 



Madison 

Published for the Society 

1914 



Wisconsin Historical Society 



Recollections of Antoine Grignon^ 



I was bom at old Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien, Jan, 9, 
1828-. My father, Amable Grignon, who was of French and 
Winnebago descent, was born at Portage, Wisconsin f my mother, 
Archange La Bathe, was bom at Prairie du Chien of a French 
father and Sioux mother, being a cousin of Wabashaw, the Sioux 
chief whose village was located on the site of Winona, Minne- 
sota.* She was a sister of Francois La Bathe, the noted trader, 
long a trusted employee of the American Fur Company.^ 
Amable Grignon acted as interpreter for the Federal Govern- 
ment on various occasions, and was stationed for a number of 



' This aged pioneer died at Trempealeau, July 24, 1913. He was one 
of the few survivors of the fur-trading regime in Wisconsin, and Ms 
recollections were secured by his fellow townsman, Dr. Eben D. 
Pierce. The transcriber writes, "I have written most of this nar- 
rative just as Grignon told it to me. In some places I have not 
used his exact words, but have tried to convey his meaning in lan- 
guage of my own construction." The interview was written in the 
shape it is here presented in December, 1912, and January, 1913. — Ed. 

* The record of Antoine's baptism is preserved in the Prairie du 
Chien Register. He was, in fact, born Jan. 9, 1829, and baptized Jan. 17 
by Father F. V. Badin. His godfather was Frangois La Bathe, repre- 
sented in his absence by Denys Cherrier, and his godmother was 
Virginie Fisher. A copy of the Register, the original of which is in 
Montreal, is in the Wisconsin Historical Library. — Ed. 

' For a brief sketch of this person, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xx, p. 157, 
note 21. Antoine, in an interview in 1909 with Charles E. Brown of 
the Society's staff, stated that in 1825 or 1826 his father had a trading 
post on the site of the present Dakota, Minn. — Ed. 

*For this chief, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xvii, p. 323, note 1; also Id, 
XX, passim. — Ed. 

•See note on this trader in Wis. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, 1906, 
p. 252.— Ed. 

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Recollections of Grignon 

years at Fort Crawford as interpreter for its commandant, Col. 
Zachary Taylor.® 

There were three children in the family, Paul, Archange, and 
myself, and although our parents had but a limited education, 
they determined to give their children the best opportunities 
within their reach. So I was taken to Col. Zachary Taylor, 
who permitted me to attend the school conducted in the garrison, 
thus laying the foundation for an education. 

Col. Zachary Taylor was a very active man, alert, rough, and 
quick, but the soldiers thought a great deal of him, and my 
father admired him above all men. He was kind to those in need 
and did what he could for the betterment of the inhabitants of 
Prairie du Chien in my day. I '11 never forget his negro servant, 
whose skin was as black as tar; I first saw him when I was a 
youngster some seven years old, and was nearly frightened out 
of my wits, and ran home as fast as my trembling limbs could 
carry me. My ! but I was afraid of that black man, as I called 
him. He used to take delight in frightening me when he found 
how afraid I was of him. 

I next went for two terms to a private school conducted by a 
Mr. Cady. [Cadle],^ then John Haney became my teacher. There 
were no public schools in that day at Prairie du Chien, and the 
parents of the pupils in the private schools paid the teacher a 
certain amount each month for their instruction. I remember, 
too, my French teacher, a Mr. Gibault, who also taught English ; 
and a lady by the name of Mrs. Crosby who held school in her 
home. 

When I was a little past twelve years of age I went to school 
to Rev. Joseph Cretin, a Catholic clergyman, who afterwards 



•Col. Zachary Taylor came to Prairie du Chien in 1829 as com-- 
mandant of Fort Crawford; the same year he determined to remove 
the fort to higher ground, and began the new fort, finished in 1831. 
He continued in command until 1836.; — Ed. 

^Rev. Richard Cadle had been in charge from 1827 to 1836 of an 
Episcopal mission school at Green Bay (see Wis. Hist. Colls., xir, . 
passim). The latter year he resigned, and was soon after appointed, 
chaplain at Fort Crawford where he remained until 1841. He was. 
probably the teacher to whom the writer refers. — Ed. 

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Wisconsin Historical Society 

became bishop of St. Paul.^ By the time I was fifteen years of 
age I had a fair education in the common branches of English* 
and was ready to go out into the world better equipped than 
most French Canadian boys of my time. 

Early Prairie du Chien 

Prairie du Chien was a small village at that time ; the French 
lived on the west side of a slough near the river, and the 
American families lived on the east side of the slough. The 
French were mostly agriculturists with a number of trappers 
and traders among them as well as voyageurs. Considerable stock 
was raised by the farmers in the vicinity of the village, and no 
one ever thought of building a fence. They just let the stock 
run at large. Some corn was raised ; I don 't remember ever 
seeing dent corn at that time, it was all flint corn. 

The French were a very hospitable people enjoying life in a 
happy, care-free manner. They were fond of dancing and feast- 
ing — in fact they were a merry set of people. They would gather 
at chosen homes to have their festivities and the young folks 
would dance and play games while the older ones joined in card- 
playing or story-telling, swapping yarns, or perhaps singing 
some of the lively songs of their language. Drinking was also 
indulged in, though not as a usual thing to excess, for the 
merrymakers were hilarious enough without the aid of the 
flowing bowl. As a class these people were very accommodat- 
ing, and would do a kindness to one in need as readily as they 
Avould turn out to a feast. 



* Joseph Cretin was born in 1800 in France, came to America as a 
missionary priest, being stationed in 1839 at Dubuque. There in 1844 
lie began a school for Winnebago children, which was next year dis- 
continued by the governor of Iowa. Grignon does not say the school he 
attended was at Prairie du Chien, and it is possible he went to the 
mission school at Dubuque. Cretin continued at that place until the 
see of St. Paul (Minn.) was erected (1850), whose first bishop he be- 
came, dying there Feb. 22, 1857. — Ed. 

» Grignon told C. E. Brown in the interview referred to, ante, note 
3, that he attended for a time the mission school at Yellow River, Iowa, 
of which Rev. David Lowry had charge. For an account of this school, 
see Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 405. — Ed. 

[112] 



Recollections of Grignon 



Beginnings of Trempealeau 

When I was fifteen years old I went to work for the Ameri- 
can Fur Company under a sub-agent named Alexis P. Bailly of 
Wabasha, Minnesota^". I was sent out to Turkey River, Iowa. 
We Avent by wagon fifty miles southwest of Prairie du Chien, 
where a store building was erected and trade opened among the 
Winnebago. A few months later I came back to Prairie du 
Chien, and went by the steamboat "Otter" up the Mississippi 
to Trempealeau which was then known as Reed's Landing or 
Reed's Town. James Reed had married my widowed mother 
and I visited her at his home, a large log house near the river.^^ 

There were but a few families in Reed's Town, John B. 
Doville^- and family were living there. He had been, conducting 
a wood yard over on the island opposite Trempealeau for a few 
years, having been sent in 1838 by Francois La Bathe to occupy 
the island and furnish cord-wood for the steamboats passing 
up and down the river. Joseph Reed, a French Canadian, ac- 
companied him. 

The real object in holding the island was to secure the fur- 
trade, and to keep Wabashaw 's band of Sioux from giving their 
trade to rival companies. 

Doville was quite an agriculturist; he cultivated the land 
formerly broken by Louis Stram at the Swiss mission,^^ and also 
broke up more on the flat near where the city park is now lo- 
cated. He sowed oats, wheat, flax-seed, potatoes, and beans. 
He has the honor, I think, of being the first farmer in Trem- 
pealeau County. Stram broke the first land, but did not sow 
any seed except for garden purposes. 



'"For a sketch of this trader, whose name was frequently anglicized 
into Bailey, see Id, xx, p. 197, note 55. — Ed. 

" See an account of the founding of Trempealeau in Wis. Hist. Soc. 
Proceedings, 1906, pp. 246-255. — Ed. 

"John B. Doville (spoken of as James Douville in IMd, p. 252) was 
a son-in-law of James Reed, and the first permanent settler of Trem- 
pealeau. His companion, Joseph (also called Antoine) Reed, was a 
French Canadian, not related to James Reed. — Ed. 

" For an account of this mission, see Wis. Hist. Colls., x, pp. 367, 
506, 507; Proceedings, 1906, pp. 251, 252. 

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Wisconsin Historical Society 

Alexander Chenevert^* was living upon the site that after- 
wards became the old Grant place. Farther up the river near 
Fred Ford's present residence, lived the Bunnells — WiUard 
and Lafayette. Willard lived here until 1848, when he moved 
across into Minnesota. Lafayette Bunnell had moved to 
Minnesota a couple of years before his brother Willard.^^ There 
was another Frenchman here at that time by the name of Michel 
Goulet who chopped wood for Reed, and worked at odd jobs 
whenever opportunity offered. He did not remain long, a few 
years perhaps, and then went farther north.^^ 

I worked for Mr. Reed, who was farmer for Wabashaw's band 
of Sioux at Winona, and as he could get home only occasionally 
I helped look after his stock, and built some pole fences for him 
in the fall of 1843, on what afterwards became the Van Engen 
farm. This was the first fence built in the county. Reed had 
considerable stock, several head of cattle, a bunch of ponies, and 
some blooded horses. They grazed on' the hills, and out on 
Trempealeau Prairie and required little attention summer or 
winter, although we always put up some wild hay for them in 
case deep snow should make the grazing difficult. Cattle suf- 



" According to the Prairie du Chien Register, Alexander Chenever, 
son of FranQois Chenever and Marie Louise Giard was born at that 
place Jan. 10, 1827, and baptized Aug. 16 of the same year. He mar- 
ried a daughter of James Reed. — Ed. 

"Willard B. Bunnell was born in 1814 at Homer, N. Y. He ran 
away and sailed upon the Great Lakes as pilot until 1832, when he 
settled at Detroit and there married, in 1837, Matilda Desnoyer. Hav- 
ing entered the fur-trade, he spent the winter of 1841-42 at the site 
of Escanaba, Mich.; then removed "West, arriving in Trempealeau, 
July, 1842. In 1848 he made arrangements to remove to the Minne- 
sota side of the river, where he occupied in 1849, by permission of the 
chief, Wabashaw, the site of the village of Homer. There he died in 
1861. His brother, Lafayette Houghton, was born in 1824, removed to 
Detroit in 1832, and accompanied his brother to Wisconsin in 1841-42. 
He enlisted in the Mexican War, sought for gold in California, and 
after studying medicine, enlisted as surgeon of the 36th Wisconsin 
Infantry, and in 1865 served in the same capacity in the 1st Minne- 
sota Battalion. He was the historian of Winona, Minn., where he 
died in 1903.— Ed. 

"For an account of Goulet and his tragic death, see L. H. Bunnell, 
Winona and its Environs (Winona, Minn., 1897), p. 210. — Ed. 

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Recollections of Grlgnon 

fered more during the deep snow than the horses, who eould 
more easily paw the snow away. 

In 1844 a Frenchman, Assalin, came to Eeed's Town. He 
was a carpenter by trade and manufactured for Mr. Reed the 
first wagon in the county, that is, he made the woodwork, but 
the iron had to be shipped up from Prairie du Chien. Besides 
carpenter work and wagon-making Assalin manufactured sleds 
and French trains. 

In speaking of these early French settlers I must not forget 
to mention Peter Rousseau who helped Reed build his house. 
Rousseau was an expert with a broad-ax and hewed the logs 
for Reed's house. This had two stories, was large and roomy, 
and served well its purpose as an old-fashioned backwoods inn. 
Reed kept a bar, and I have often seen travelers sleeping on 
the floor roUed up in their blankets. Beds were a luxury seldom 
indulged in at that period. Around the old-fashioned fireplace 
in Reed's inn was often gathered a strange and varied company 
—traders, surveyors, trappers, and hunters, and a few blanketed 
Indians. As they sat smoking by the blazing fire in the evening, 
you might have heard stories of adventure that would thrill 
the heart of the dullest listener. 

About the same year, 1844, there came to Trempealeau (Reed's 
Town) a Frenchman by the name of Antoine La Terreur, who 
was a cabinet-maker. He manufactured chairs, bureaus, chests, 
and other furniture, and was the first in our county to do work 
of that kind. Some of the chairs he manufactured are still, or 
were a few years ago, in the possession of La Vigne in Cedar 
Valley, Minnesota. 

In 1845, Michel Bebault came here and hired out as a wood- 
chopper over on the island at the steamboat wood yard. He 
was about the best wood-chopper I ever saw at work. Three 
years larter Leander Bebault and John La Vigne^' came with 
their families to settle in Trempealeau. La Vigne bought a little 
piece of land up in the tamarack, but had not lived there long 
when he decided to move across the river to Minnesota, where 
he settled in Cedar Valley. 

" Jean Baptiste Lavigne was an early settler of Green Bay, see Wis 
Hist Colls., XX, p. 159, note 22. Probably the Trempealeau settler was 
his son. Louis Bibeau (Bebault) was an early Illinois trader, pos- 
sibly the progenitor of these pioneers of Trempealeau.— Ed. 

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Wisconsin Historical Society 



Hardships of Mail-Carriers 

Joseph Reed became a mail-carrier, and I think it worth while 
to relate some of the hardships he underwent in performing his 
duty. His route lay along the Mississippi from Prairie du 
Chien to Wabashaw's village at Winona. At the latter place 
he met the mail-carrier from Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, and 
after exchanging mails the two returned to their respective 
starting-points. The trip was made by canoe in sunmier, and 
by French train on the river-ice in winter, and by pony with 
saddle-bags at times when neither canoe nor French train could 
be used. 

One year, in the latter part of winter, early in March I think, 
Joseph Reed started from Prairie du Chien with the government 
mail bound for Winona. When he arrived the carrier from St. 
Paul was not there. It was mild weather, so Reed concluded to 
proceed on his journey until he met his partner from up river. 
By the time he reached Holmes's Landing," the weather had 
grown considerably warmer, and the ice showed signs of break- 
ing up. Still he pushed on, and urging his pony over the ice, 
sped away towards the north. On nearing Minneiska^^ he heard 
the ice begin to give way — groan, crack, and move; looking 
about he saw that an island in the river offered his only place of 
escape from drowning, as the ice was fast breaking up. He 
made his way thither, and arriving in safety started to explore 
his new quarters. He had gone but a short distance when he 
ran across the St. Paul mail-carrier who had likewise made the 
island in safety. By this time the ice in the river was moving 
fast, and before another day had nearly cleared. So there they 
were with little provision, shut off from the mainland by a wide 
channel. 

After their provisions gave out, they subsisted on rose-apples ; 
they hallooed in vain for help, but it was a sparsely-settled 



" Holmes's Landing was near the site of the present Fountain City, 
Buffalo County, and was settled in 1839 by Thomas A. Holmes, pre- 
viously of Milwaukee and Rock County. It was a well-known port of 
call on the upper Mississippi. — Ed. 

"Minneiska is on the Minnesota side, in the southeastern angle of 
Wabasha County. — Ed. 

[116 1 



Recollections of Grignon 

region at that time and no one heard them. After living on the 
island nearly two weeks, they were rescued by a party of Sioux 
who were coming down the river in canoes. The Sioux took 
the two mail-carriers into their canoes and left them at Holmes's 
Landing where after two weeks of recuperation they resumed 
their routes. They were weak, emaciated, and nearly starved to 
death. 

Dodge's Home Guards 

I remained in Trempealeau until the year before the Mexican 
War broke out, when I returned to Prairie du Chien and went 
to work in a blacksmith shop. When war with Mexico was de- 
clared, I enlisted in Governor Dodge's regiment of home guards 
serving therein for a year. We did not go out of the State, but 
were held m readiness in ease we should be needed.^" While 
m service at Prairie du Chien during the winter of 1846-47, 
a report came to our commander that the Indians were massa' 
cring the whites in the locality where Vernon County now is. 
We were ordered out and with great difiSculty marched up 
through the deep snow to the supposed scene of murder. When 
we arrived we found the report was false; the whites had not 
been distui'bed in the least, and no Indians had been seen ii 
that region for a number of weeks. So we returned inglori 
ously to our quarters at Prairie du Chien. 



In the Fur-Trade 

After getting my discharge I went to work as clerk for the 
American Fur Company in their store at Prairie du Chien 
under B. N. Brisbois.-^^ I remained in their employ until 
June, 1849, when I decided to go north and took the steamboat, 
''Lady Franklin" for St. Paul. 

I soon secured employment at Fort Snelling, helping to get 
up hay for the cavalry stationed there at the time. I drove 

^0 Grignon later drew a pension as a Mexican War veteran.— Ed. 
' See the "Recollections" of this pioneer in Wis. Hist. Colls., ix. pp. 
^82—302. — Ed. 

[117] 



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Wisconsin Historical Society 

team and helped stack for a few weeks, when a man from St. 
Paul came and asked if I would run a boarding-house and bar 
for him at that place. I complied with his request, and worked 
for him for two months; at the end of this time I went down 
the river in one of A. P. Bailly's boats as far as Wabasha, 
where I went to Avork for Bailly. He was postmaster, and I 
carried the mail to and from the boats and also worked in the 
store as clerk. While there I was appointed deputy sheriff, 
and served papers on a man who was accused of stealing goods 
from my employer. I had a search warrant and went and looked 
over the man's house, but found none of the stolen goods in his 
possession. 

In the winter of 1849 Bailly fixed me up a big load of goods 
on a French train, with a pony to haul it down the river ; I took 
my departure for the site of Fountain City, where there was a 
large camp of Sioux. I traded among them until the spring of 
1850, when I loaded my goods in a canoe and made my way 
down the river and through the sloughs to the present site of 
Marshland, where there was also a Sioux camp. I sold my 
pony and train to the Indians and bought a canoe of them, and 
traded with them for a number of weeks. They had been trap- 
ping up Trempealeau River, and had a fine lot of beaver, 
otter, marten, mink, and muskrat pelts. I had for my store 
a Sioux hut made out of buffalo hides — as comfortable as one 
could wish. After the spring hunting and trapping was over 
I returned to Wabasha, but not until I had an opportunity of 
attending a medicine dance at Minneowah, not far above the 
present town of Homer, Minnesota. 



Winnebago Removal 

In the early fifties the Winnebago were removed to Long 
Prairie, Minnesota. H. M. Rice^^ had charge of their removal 



" In 1846, a few "Winnebago chiefs visiting in V/ashington were in« 
duced to sign a treaty whereby their tribe was to remove to a reserva- 
tion in Minnesota Territory, north of St. Peter's [Minnesota] River 
and west of the Mississippi. The members of the tribe as a whole 
repudiated the treaty; nevertheless, in 1849 attempts were made to 
Induce them to remove thither. They disliked the country, and were 

[ 118 ] 



Recollections of Grignon 

and secured my services to help him. We took the steamboat 
"Yankee" from St. Paul, and on the way down the river Kiee 
asked me to accompany him on deck from which vantage point 
he thoiight we could locate the Indian camps near the river to 
good advantage. So we sat out on deck looking over the country 
for Indian camps. Just below Winona I saw smoke, and located 
it about where Sugar Loaf is at present. We kept a sharp look- 
out on the smoke, and when the boat rounded a bend we saw 
it was an Indian camp as I had predicted. 

At Minneowah the boat stopped and let me off and I made 
my way as best I could through thickets along the bluffs to the 
camp which proved to be one of Winnebago. I told the Indians 
my mission and they at once began breaking camp and loading 
their canoes. When they were ready, I accompanied them to 
Trempealeau where they remained all night. Mr. Rice, S. B. 
Lowry, and David Olmstead^^ who were working in the interests 
of the government in removing the Winnebago to the reserva- 
tion, stayed all night with Mr. Reed, and next, morning we all 
went to La Crosse, taking our band of Indians with us. A 
few miles above La Crosse we located another Indian camp on 
French Island and took them also with us to La Crosse. There 
the Indians were loaded on barges and into boats and taken by 
steamboat to St. Paul, whence they were carried overland by 
wagons to Long Prairie, Minnesota, the new home. 



afraid of the neighboring Sioux, and gradually returned in small 
bands to their old homes along the Mississippi and Wisconsin. Peri- 
odically they were gathered up and removed. It was probably one 
of these later assemblages which Grignon here describes. 

H. M. Rice (1816-94) came from Vermont to Minnesota in 1839, 
where he engaged in the fur-trade. In 1853-57 he was territorial dele- 
gate, and later first senator from the new state (1858-63). — Ed. 

* Syvanus B. Lowry and David Olmstead were both American Indian 
traders. The former had a post near the present Brockway, Minn.; 
was adjutant-general of the territory in 1853; laid out the town of 
St. Cloud, and died there in 1861. Olmstead (1822-61) came from 
Vermont to establish a trading post at Long Prairie; was president 
of the first territorial legislature, and first mayor of St. Paul. — Ed. 



[119] 



Wisconsin Historical Society 



Hudson Bay Company 

A few months after the removal of the Indians I went to the 
office of the Hudson Bay Company in St. Paul and told one 
of the head officers I intended to go to Long Prairie,^* and asked 
him if there was a chance to work for his company there. He 
asked me my name and when I told him, he looked over some 
papers lying on a desk and returned to where I stood saying, 
"Yes, Mr. Grignon, you can have employment at once. There 
will be a place for you in our store at Long Prairie." 
The Hudson Bay Company had a large store at that place, 
where they kept a line of Indian supplies of the very best 
materiad. Their blankets made of all wool were the best I ever 
saw. There was no shoddy clothing in their store, and it was 
a satisfaction to work for them. We bought all kinds of fur 
from the Indians and trappers, and I remember one year taking 
in 700 raccoon skins, besides marten, mink, fox, and muskrat 
pelts. 

Early St. Paul 

It was a sight to see St. Paul at that time. It was a trading 
post, and had the largest warehouses of any in the West, be- 
cause more fur was brought there for shipment. From St. Paul 
the peltry was shipped by boat to points down river. St. Louis 
was a big shipping centre for fur companies and much of the 
northern fur went there to be reshipped. 

The Hudson Bay Company used two-wheel carts to carry 
their supplies out into the country, and to bring in the bundles 
or bales of furs. You could see long lines of carts coming and 
going in the St. Paul streets at any time. These carts had two 
high solid wheels nearly as tall as a person's head; then there 
was a large strongly-constructed box between the wheels. These 
carts were drawn by an ox, a buffalo, or a horse, and it is sur- 
prising what a load one animal could draw. These cart-trains 



" The Long Prairie agency seems to have been near the present 
town of that name, in Todd County, Minn. — Ed. 

[120] 



Recollections of Grignon 

were the only ones running in and out of St. Paul when I first 
visited there — what a change has taken place since then ! 

Trading at Blue Earth 

In 1854, I returned to Trempealeau and remained at home 
with my family until 1856. In the latter year Nathan Myrick, 
the pioneer settler of La Crosse/^ wrote me a letter asking me 
to take charge as interpreter of his store at Blue Earth, Minne- 
sota. Accordingly I Avent to Blue Earth and began work for 
Myrick. The Winnebago had meanwhile been removed from 
Long Prairie to the Blue Earth ageney,^® and Myrick opened 
a store at the latter place to secure their trade. Myrick told 
me to trust all Indians that were honest, but to look out for the 
rascals, and said, ''you have traded with them a long time and 
know them well and so you know the good ones from the bad 
ones." I trusted them to the amount of over $3,000, and when 
they received their government annuity I got all the money 
they owed me, or very nearly all; I think 1 lost less than ten 
dollars in dealing with them. 

I remained at Blue Earth until winter and then returned 
home to Trempealeau. I did not like the Prairie country and 
I wanted to be with my family, although Myrick offered to fix 
up a place where my family could stay at Blue Earth. 

In 1850, I married Mary Christine de La Ronde, a girl from 
Portage, Wisconsin, whose father is well known to Wisconsin 
history, and whose narrative occurs in the Collections of the 
Wisconsin Historical Society.^'' Fourteen children were born 



"Nathan Myrick (1822-1903) founder of La Crosse, came there in 
1841 from Westport, N. Y. In 1848 he sold out his landed interests 
and removed to St. Paul, but continued to trade at several places on the 
Mississippi. He celebrated his golden wedding, 1893, in St. Paul, and 
died there ten years later. — Ed. 

^* In 1855, the Winnebago sold their Long Prairie reservation to the 
government and were assigned to one in Blue Earth County, Minn., 
which they regained until removed (1863) to a reservation in 
Nebraska. — "PId. 

"For tnis narrative, see vol. vii, pp. 345-365; his obituary is in Id,. 
ix, p. 431. According to an article in the Trempealeau Herald, Dec.. 
17, 1909, Mary Christine de La Ronde Grignon was born at Portage,. 

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to us, six of whom are still living, three boys and three girls.^' 
The girls when they were young ladies were noted in this part 
of the country for their singing; one of them became a school 
teacher and was very successful in her work. 

An Indian Census 

In 1881 Major Halleek came from Washington, D, C, to 
enumerate the Winnebago, and wrote for me to assist him in the 
work.^® We went to Eland Junction and enumerated Big 
Black Hawk's band,"" and then proceeded to Black River Falls; 
after completing the work there, we went to Portage and Kil- 
bourn, and wherever we could locate a camp of this tribe. Next 
spring I Avent with Major Halleek to Stevens Point to make a 
payment to the Indians and was with him a year, and when- 
ever a payment was made I helped to locate and get the names 
of the Indians on the pay-roll. I also helped survey the land 
above Black River Falls, and assisted in locating the Indians 
on their homesteads. I have acted as interpreter on various 
occasions for the Federal Government, and on matters of busi- 
ness have helped the Indians whenever I could. I have lived 



Christmas day, 1835, married at Long Prairie, Feb. 4, 1851, and died 
at Trempealeau, Dec. 8, 1909. She was at the time of her death one 
of the oldest settlers of the town. — Ed. 

^ The newspaper article mentioned in the preceding note gives the 
names of these children as follows: Ralph J. Grignon, of St. Paul; 
Alexander Grignon, of Oshkosh; Guy A. Grignon, of Glen Flora, Wis.; 
Mrs. Mary Jebb, of Paynesville, IMinn. ; Mrs. Camilla Dederich, of San- 
dusky, Wis.; Mrs. Nettie Coyle, of Trempealeau. — Ed. 

*Jan. 18, 1881, Congress passed an "Act for the relief of the Wis- 
consin Winnebago," one of the provisions of which was that a com- 
plete census of the members of that tribe, scattered throughout the 
northern woods, should be taken, and their share of the Winnebago 
trust funds allotted to them; also that they should have titles to their 
lands assigned them in perpetuity. Maj. Walter F. Halleek, a retired 
army officer, was appointed special agent to take this census. Grignon 
appears to have been in his employ until 1884, when Halleek retired 
from the agency. Transcripts of several letters from Halleek to 
Grignon, showing appreciation of the latter's services, are in the So- 
ciety's Library. — Ed. 

•"For an account of this chief, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 430. — ^Eo. 

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here most of the time since I quit work for Myrick, and have 
always made my home in Trempealeau, being away only on 
business for short intervals. I live in the same house that I 
bought in 1857. 

A Wisconsin Pioneer 

I would like to say a word about James Reed. He was a 
remarkable man for his time, when just such a man was needed. 
I first saw Reed in Prairie du Chien when I was a boy and he 
was keeping tavern there. He was not a tall man, medium in 
height but thick-set, with a deep chest. He had bluish-gray 
eyes and a sandy or florid complexion. He was a good shot, one 
of the best I ever saw, and the Indians far and wide were aware 
of his skill with the rifle. I have seen him kill eleven prairie 
chicken in twelve shots, in the trees on the island across from 
Trempealeau. He was several rods away from the game when 
he shot. I have also seen him shoot the head from a partridge 
at a good distance. 

One day a merchant from Rock Island, Illinois, who had 
advanced supplies to some lumbermen at Black River Falls, 
called at Reed's inn and asked the way to the Falls. Reed in- 
quired if the man intended to go alone, and he answered he did. 
"You will find it difficult to make your way," replied the old 
hunter, "there are no roads and the trails are unmarked and 
hard to find unless you are acquainted with the country." The 
man said he had a compass and thought he could find his way 
all right. He remained all night, and in the morning Reed and 
I accompanied him on ponies to Beaver Creek, and saw him 
safely across the stream before we took our departure for home. 
One afternoon a week later the man came crawling into Reed's 
inn almost exhausted. He had lost his way and wandered about 
in the neighborhood of Decorah's Peak for a number of days 
subsisting on roots and berries. He was scratched about the 
face and hands, his clothing was in shreds, and when he reached 
Trempealeau Prairie, he was so exhausted that he had to crawl 
for three or four miles on his hands and knees. He remained 
at Reed's cabin about two weeks and then went home without 
attempting to visit the lumbermen at Black River Falls. 

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Reed could speak several Indian dialects and was as well 
acquainted with. Indian character as any man I ever knew. 
He was of a kind disposition and generailly used mild 
measures in his dealings Avith the Indians ; but when diplomacy 
failed, he was a different man and his temper once aroused, he 
feared nothing, and could bring his rifle into play as handily 
as any backwoodsman I ever saw. He was noted for his fear- 
lessness as well as for his expert marksmanship. 



Fur-trading Customs 

In looking back over the departed years, I can see Prairie du 
Chien as it was when I played along its streets as a boy. The 
strange, wild life of the hunters, traders, and trappers thrilled 
me, and I was often on hand to see the fleets of canoes from 
the northland with their throng of painted Indians or, to see 
the voyageurs arrive with their bateaux of furs. Indians came 
from far and near to trade at Prairie du Cliien, which was in 
reality a big post with stores and warehouses belonging prin- 
cipally to the American Fur Company. From the north, the 
region along JMinnesota and Chippewa Rivers, and the upper 
Mississippi, came the Sioux, Winnebago, Chippewa, and Me- 
nominee. Down the Wisconsin came bands of Indians belong- 
ing to different tribes. The Iowa, Sauk, and Foxes came from 
the river below Prairie du Chien. The Indians traveled mostly 
by river in canoes, but a few came on ponies, afoot, and horse- 
back from the interior. 

When the Indians came down or up the river, they were 
painted in their most gaudy colors, the bucks using red, yellow, 
and green to decorate their faces, while the squaws used ver- 
milion, and painted a round spot of this color on each cheek and 
a streak down the middle of their hair where it was parted. 
The canoes used in these journeys were both the dugout and 
the birch bark, and a fleet usually consisted of a dozen or fifteen 
boats, but I have seen as many as forty in one flotilla. The 
Indians brought with them furs, wild game, and pemmican made 
out of clean, fat venison pounded to a pulp, or of buffalo meat 
treated in the same manner. They also brought venison and 
buffalo meat that had been jerked, scorched, and smoked. They 

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likewise brought baskets, mats, wild honey, maple sugar, berries 
in season, and dried lotus-root, which when cooked tasted like 
a potato. The Indians also made brooms out of birch, hickory, 
or ash wood. With these commodities they bought or secured in 
barter flour, pork, coffee, tobacco, blankets, hatchets, knives, 
dress-goods, ribbons, ammunition, and trinkets of many kinds. 
I must not forget to mention bows and arrows which the Indians 
made and sold to the whites, especially to the young boys ; they 
also sold buckskin and moccasins. These bands of Indians 
would remain a week or two to trade at Prairie du Chien and 
the surrounding neighborhood. While there they would feast 
and dance and enjoy life that had a tinge of civilization in it. 
You could hear the tum-tum beating all night when a dance was 
in progress, and mingled with the crude song and the yell of 
the dancers, it made night hideous; silence was a luxury on 
nights of the Indian dance. 

It was customary for the fur-trader to leave for the Indian 
country sometime during September. Some, who had shorter 
distances to travel left later, along in October. They took their 
supplies in large canoes, in barges, and in ' ' a-la-cordelle ' '. The 
barges were poled with long poles, while the cordelles were 
drawn with ropes from shore, although oars were also employed. 
The canoes were paddled by the French voyageurs, who some- 
times used oars in the swift cross currents. The traders took 
along as supplies hatchets, knives, ammunition/ (powder and 
lead), blankets, and woolen dress-goods, calico, and trinkets, such 
as beads, ribbons, and silver ornaments of large plates and round 
and square silver pieces. The squaws used the latter on their 
dresses, while the bucks were fond of silver for decorating 
their hair. 

Among Indian goods must be included traps for catching 
animals, and, last but not least, rum. A few kegs or barrels of 
rum would often get the trader more furs than any of his other 
goods. As a general thing the Indian would give more for rum 
or whisky than for anything else ; he would even sell his squaw 
for fire-water. However, the trader was usually shrewd in 
dealing out liquor, and would give the Indian but a small 
amount. A reckless trader often did a great deal of damage 
by selling quantities of liquor to the Indians. When a crowd 
of them got drunk, fighting followed and shooting affrays. 

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Trouble with the whites could usually be traced to over-indul- 
gence in fire-water. 

The trader penetrated to the remote parts of the country in 
quest of furs, and dispersed his trappers into the interior ; then 
at his trading quarters he would deal with the Indians and col- 
lect furs during the fall, winter, and spring. Then when the 
spring trapping was over, with his boats loaded with fur, he 
would depart for the fur company's headquarters. Voyageurs 
were paid by the year and furnished provisions for the season ; 
these consisted of hulled corn, peas (for soup), and hardtack, 
with plenty of salt and pepper, but no tea or coffee. They also 
iiad salt pork in small quantities. The foreman or boss of the 
trading expedition always had a drinking cabinet and carried 
the best of rum and whisky. He kept this under lock and key 
and each day would give his men a few drinks, and on rare 
occasions after a hard day's work would allow them an extra 
drink to keep up their spirits or to show them their work was 
rewarded. 

After the spring trapping was over the trader would pack his 
furs and set out for the trading post. On these return jour- 
neys, the voyageurs were a merry set. They would sing their 
French songs by the hour, keeping time with their paddles, thus 
making the journey homeward a pleasant one. How often have 
I heard the music of these boatmen's songs float out over the 
valley of the Mississippi, and then watched the canoes, bateaux, 
and barges round a bend and appear in sight with the head- 
canoe flying the American flag at its bow. 

The traders and voyageurs remained all summer at Prairie 
du Chien, and then in the fall took their way into the wilderness 
again. The voyageurs were as a rule illiterate, and knew nothing 
but their work. After completing their time for the fur com- 
panies, many of them returned to Canada, though a few settled 
in this country. They were an honest people and many of 
them married among the Indians. When they went to work 
for the fur company they were required to sign a contract, 
and this bound them for a term of years. It was about the 
same as enlisting in the army.^^ 



« See specimen engagement contracts in Wis. Hist. Colls., xix, p. 292; 
^x, p. 212.— Ed. 

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Indian Industries 

I am asked about the industries of the Indians, especially 
those of the Sioux and Winnebago, with whom I am most 
familiar. Beginning with the soil, the first work was agricul- 
ture. The women were very ' industrious and would begin in 
the spring to spade up their ground for corn planting. They 
raised what was known as squaw corn, which is a flint corn, and 
.also raised pumpkins, and any other vegetables, seed of which had 
found its way into their camp from the fur-traders. But pump- 
kins and corn were the principal crops raised. The com was 
cultivated with hoes — big clumsy implements that weighed as 
much as three or four of our common garden hoes. It was prin- 
cipally eaten hulled, also in meal after being ground up in a 
wooden bowl with a large wooden pounder. This was their 
crude mill. This meal they baked into corn bread, or made it 
into porridge. They also used green corn as roasting ears, and 
dried it in the following fashion : they dug a hole in the ground 
and heated large stones; on these heated stones they threw 
husks, and on the husks laid the green corn on cobs ; over this 
corn they threw more husks, and then covered it up and let it 
cook. "When it was thoroughly cooked, the corn was cut from 
the cob and put out on mats in the sun to dry. This dried com 
was used to make soup, and could be kept for years. 

Wigwams, before canvas was introduced, were made of woven 
grass; long grass called foxtail was utilized for this purpose. 
Mats made from grasses were about four to six feet in width 
and twelve or sixteen feet in length. A wooden rod was put 
at the end of the wigwam mat, and twine made of basswood 
bark was used to tie the mat to the rod. Several of these mats 
were used to construct a wigwam, and they would shed rain as 
readily as canvas does. Both twine and mats were made by 
hand^ it was a long piece of work for the squaw to make mat- 
ting for a wigwam, but once completed it lasted for years and 
was always kept in repair. The matting was light, and very 
easily carried either on ponies or in canoes. In making this 
wigwam matting the Indians worked together, several squaws 
congregating and working until the wigwam was completed, 
just as pioneer women gathered at quilting-bees. Mats were 

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also used as carpets in the wigwam ; and were made for trading 
purposes as well, for the whites often bought them for use in 
their houses. The women in the Indian camp also prepared 
the meat, made the pemmican, and jerked the fresh venison. 
This kept well though no salt whatever was used. The women 
also made moccasins and tanned skins of animals for use as 
clothing. Bags were made out of tanned skin and woven out of 
wild grasses. These bags were used to carry cooking utensils, 
clothing, and implements used about the wigwam. 

The Winnebago were noted for mat weaving, basket making, 
ornamenting skins, and making wooden brooms. They dug out 
canoes, bowls, and other dishes from wood. These wooden ves- 
sels were made by the men and were ornamented with the heads 
of deer and bears, or of some other animal. They also made 
wooden ladles with handles ornamented with the head of a fish or 
a bird. The men also made the reed, a musical instrument like 
a flute. This reed was used in wooing; a brave would play on 
his reed in front of the wigwam where resided his lady-love. 
He would play his love tune, and if he was a welcome caller he 
would be invited in to see the maid for whom he was playing. 
If he was not welcome, no notice was taken of him, and he would 
take his departure. Sometimes he would return and play night 
after night until the reluctant father of the Indian maid 
would invite him in, but sometimes the father would drive the 
young wooer away. 

Another instrument of a musical character was the drum, 
made of a hollow chunk of wood with a piece of rawhide 
stretched over it. This was called the "tum-tum" and was used 
at all their dancing. 

Another article of manufacture was the bucket. This was 
made of birch bark and sewed together with twine from bass- 
wood bark, while to keep the bucket from leaking a glue, made 
from cherry sap or gum and from the backbone of a sturgeon, 
was used. These birch bark pails were used to catch sap. This 
was collected in a storage trough made of a log dug out and 
burned so it would hold several barrels. In former years the 
women did their sewing with sinew from the deer and elk and 
used bone needles. 

The Sioux were noted for their leather implements. First 
was the wigwam made of tanned buffalo hides, sewed together 

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in the shape of a tepee which made a very warm dwelling. 
The hair was removed from the buffalo skin in making these 
wigwams, but for blankets and carpets the hides were tanned 
with the hair left on. These wigwams were decorated with 
bright paint. As a rule buffalo, deer, elk, horses, and birds 
were painted on the buffalo hide, but now and then you would 
see the human figure on a tent, and I have seen a few where 
a scene with hills, river, and woods ornamented the wigwam. 

The Sioux were the most ingenious of the western Indians 
in making ornaments. They decorated their clothing with 
beads and shells. Porcupine quills stained with different colors 
were used to adorn their arrow quivers, while the arrows were 
colored, that is, the feather was stained some gaudy color. The 
bow was made of buffalo sinew and the arrows of wood. The 
Sioux were likewise expert pipe makers. They used pipe-stone, 
witli a reed that grows in marshy places, for a stem. The pipe 
was decorated with bird claws, and tufts of fur from the 
weasel or mink. I have seen some of the most beautiful pipes 
among the Sioux that could be imagined. 

The Chippewa were noted for their birch bark canoes. These 
were made of sheets of birch bark sewed together with sinew 
and watap root, and sealed with tamarack and pine pitch to 
keep them from leaiking. These canoes would carry more weight 
than one would suppose. 



Indian Babies 

Indian children usually have a happy time. The child is 
put into a straight-back little cradle with sides and a bow 
handle. It is flat and has no rocker for none is needed. The 
young Indian babe seldom cries because it is seldom sick. It is 
a breast-fed baby, and gets along a great deal better than the 
average white child. Two saplings are used to make a swing 
for the baby. They are sharpened on one end and stuck in the 
ground about seven feet apart. A cord made of basswood 
bark is tied to the cradle and the babe is given a swing by tying 
the cord to the sapling. There the little one is swung back and 
forth or jounced up and down. Little trinkets are placed on the 

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bow of the cradle for the baby's amusement, and it will lie by 
the hour and play Avith these trinkets. 

Games of the Indians 

The principal game of the Indian in this part of the country 
was lacrosse. This game was often played as a sacred game, to 
redeem the bereaved from their long mourning period. They 
were obliged by custom to mourn a stated length of time, but 
could make a sacrifice instead, that is give away a certain amount 
of furs, blankets, or ponies; and these were played for in the 
lacrosse game. Two parties were formed, from a dozen to 
fifteen on a side, and these parties played the game for the 
goods as a stake, the winners taking the mourners' sacrifice. 
After the game the mourning was at an end. The game was 
played with a ball and lacrosse sticks. The ball must not be 
touched except with the lacrosse stick. 

Among the Indian children games are indulged in ; one some- 
thing like shinny is played on the ice, and in another the players 
throw a twisted hickory stick on the ice ; this is driven towards- 
a goal, the one coming nearest the goal winning. Among the- 
children sliding down hill is enjoyed. They use basswood and 
elm bark in making sleds for coasting. They always ride stand- 
ing, and hold on to a string fastened to the front of their 
toboggan. They also play on the glaring ice. One game or 
sport was to take a small round niggerhead stone and spin it 
on the ice, then take a willow whip and whip it over the ice as, 
fast as they could go. They had tops to spin also, made of wood, 
and set in motion with a string. 

Indian Beliefs and Customs 

The marriage ceremony among the Indians was very simple. 
The young buck would call at the wigwam where resided the 
Indian maid he wished for a wife. If the mother of the girl 
was pleased with the young brave, she would not stir the fire 
in the least, but would sit quietly before the glimmering light 
of the ground hearth. If, however, she was not pleased with 
the young suitor, she would stir the fire again and again until 

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the wooer took his departure and would emphasize her disgust 
by spitting into the fire art; times. Another custom was for the 
young buck to bring presents to the parents of the girl he 
desired, and if these presents, such as ponies, furs, and silver 
trinkets, were accepted, he would take the girl for his wife. 

The Indians believed in "maunhoonah" meaning the Great 
Spirit' or Creator of Earth. They believed in the hereafter, 
and that in order to get to the happy hunting ground, they had 
to be good Indians. They had a Grand Medicine Society in its 
form allied to the Free Mason orders. Not all could join this 
society, but a certain number were taken in each year. Appli- 
cation was made for membership, and the names taken up in 
council, and if elected to become a member the candidate was 
initiated into the order providing, of course, he could fur- 
nish the necessary fee of furs, blankets, ponies, or goods of any 
kind. After being initiated, the new member was given a 
medicine-bag made of the skin of some animal such as the coon, 
squirrel, otter, or beaver. 

The Medicine-man 

The medicine-man who looks after the bodily ailments of 
the tribe is not to be confounded with the medicine-man who 
is a member of the Great Medicine Lodge. The former is 
usually above the average intelligence, and gifted with the 
power of impressing his superiority upon the Indians, that is, 
in dealing with disease. This power of dispelling disease is 
supposed to be given him by the Great Spirit. In treating a 
patient, the medicine-man goes through certain incantations and 
rattles a gourd, which has seed or shot in it. He also uses 
roots and herbs for the treatment of the sick. A great deal of 
ginseng is used, and the bark of poplar trees, mandrake or 
May-apple root, and sweet-flag. The list of herbs would be a 
long one, and some of the medicine-men obtained very good 
results from these herbs, which they used as a tea, after steep- 
ing them over a fire in a kettle containing a sufficient amount 
of water. Some of these Indian doctors became noted even 
among the whites, and were able in a limited number of dis- 
eases to give relief and to obtain cures. They also practised 

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surgery, setting bones, opening abscesses, and treating wounds 
of various kinds. Their instruments were crude and were made 
mostly of bone and iron. 



Mortuary Customs 

At the burial or funeral ceremony, some member of the tribe 
jsvas appointed to speak at the grave of the departed Indian. 
The mourners passed around the head of the grave in single 
file and scattered tobacco over the open grave. The funeral 
orator gave an oration on the life of the departed and pictured 
his journey into the land of the hereafter. Food was left on 
the grave sufficient to carry him on his journey, and a supply 
of tobacco, so that he could take comfort on the way to the 
happy hunting ground. On the death of a member of the 
tribe, the survivors had a wake — not exactly like the Irish 
wake — but friends and mourners met at the home where a death 
occurred, a speech was made, after which all except the mourn- 
ers joined in a feast. This wake was the beginning of mourn- 
ing, and the mourners observed the custom of fasting for at 
least three days. If a woman lost her husband, she remained 
with her husband's relatives for a number of months and was 
compelled to do their work without a murmur. She was not 
allowed to comb her hair for a number of months, or to orna- 
ment herself in any way, but went ragged and dirty with her 
hair unkempt and was forced to do the bidding of her husband's 
relatives. At the end of the mourning period she was liberated 
to go where she pleased and do as she pleased; she frequently 
remarried. 

Miscellaneous Customs 

When I was at Long Prairie, I was much interested in a cus- 
tom among the Winnebago of making morning speeches. Early 
each morning when the weather would permit, one of the ora- 
tors would appear in front of his wigwam and give an address 
of a religious nature to the Indians, who would assemble to 
hear the exliorter. He usually spoke in a kindly way, offering 
advice and telling the tribesmen to carry themselves in a manner 

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befitting good, true men and women. I suppose such a person 
among the whites would be called an evangelist. 

Among the noted orators and chiefs that I have known were 
"Winnoshiek, Black Hawk, Decorah, Wah-pa-sha, Little Creek, 
Little Priest, Snake Hide, Little Hill, Short Wing, and many 
others whose names I cannot recall. Big Fire was a noted 
astronomer. He studied the heavens and was familiar with the 
principal groups of stars. 

The Indians had the heavens mapped out into constellations 
and were familiar with all the changes of the moon. They often 
studied the stars on cold nights when the light from the constel- 
lations was most brilliant. A month was called a moon and a 
year of time designated a winter. 

Tribal History 

Legends and traditions of the tribes were passed down from 
one generation to another by means of "word passers." ^ 
number of young Indians, say eight or ten, were chosen on ac- 
count of their good memories to study, and learn lessons from 
the older "word passers." These young Indians were drilled 
in the legends, history, and traditions of the tribe. They were 
required to repeat them over again and again, omitting no de- 
tail, until they knew them by heart; and when the old "word 
passers" died, another generation of young men was select©^ 
and instructed by their predecessors. Thus dates and incidents 
were passed on from generation to generation, and a living 
history was kept. An old Winnebago chief, Decorah,^- ha4 a 
very interesting cane that he showed me one day, when I visitjed 
him in his wdgwam. On this cane were carved many figures, « 
sort of hieroglyphics. It had been handed down from father 
to son and was in reality a record which old Decorah could read. 
It was a crude history of the tribe covering a good many years, 
and if I could remember some of the accounts Decorah gave me 
as recorded on the cane, they would be worth hearing. 



^"For a brief account of the Decorah family of chiefs, see Id, xx, 
p. 235, note 34. Antolne Grignon was a descendant of this family, his 
grandmother, wife of Perische Grignon, being a daughter of Konokah 
Decorah; his wife's mother was likewise of the same family. — Ed. 

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The War-eagle Feather 

The Sioux were fond of decorating themselves with quills, 
furs, and feathers; but I think they had one custom which is 
worth noting. A brave or more particularly a warrior used a 
war-eagle feather to adorn his hair. This long feather in the 
hair of a warrior was a mark of distinction, and it was ac- 
quired on merit, for no brave could wear one who did not merit 
it. On the feather notches were cut if the warrior had been 
successful in war. Each notch on one side of the feather rep- 
resented a scalp taken from an enemy. The notches on the 
other side signified the number of times the brave had been on 
the war-path. This made it easy for one to tell what kind of 
a war record a brave had. If a warrior had a well notched 
feather he was looked up to and envied and praised by his 
tribesmen ; he felt his superiority, too, and carried himself with 
a distinguished air. War-eagles were scarce and it was some- 
times hard to get feathers. I remember one time seeing an 
Indian trade a pony for a war-eagle feather. Hunting parties 
from Wabashaw's village used to go out in search for the war- 
eagle, and a favorite resting-place for these eagles was among 
the hills of Waumandee. Waumandee means in Sioux "the 
land of the war-eagle." 

Indian Invitations 

Another peculiar custom which I recollect is the method of 
inviting a party of Indians to attend a dance, feast, or other 
gathering. One day while I was camped with a band of Sioux 
near the site of what is now Marshland, an Indian came into 
camp who was from another camp near Homer (Minnesota). 
He had crossed the Mississippi in a canoe, and came to invite 
several of the Indians over to his camp to attend a medicine 
dance. He would enter a tent and pass around some small 
sticks, and explain his object and depart. He must have had at 
least fifty sticks answering the purpose of invitation cards, which 
he distributed. 



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Indian Character 

The Indians as I knew them were as a general thing peaceable. 
They loved their native haunts and their families and may be 
called a happy people. They had plenty. . Game abounded; 
there was an abundance of fur-bearing animals ; and the streams 
were full of fish. There was no need of poverty for with plenty 
of corn and wild meat and with fur enough to buy ammunition, 
traps, and knives, there was little else needed to make their lot 
an easy and comfortable one. They were not a stolid people, but 
were fond of fun. There was a humorous side to the Indian 
and a genial friendship when once you came to know him, but 
I have no respect for that unnatural picture so often made of 
him — the word picture of the novelist that shows him devoid of 
sentiment and emotion, a cold, cruel, unfeeling stoic, whose face 
is never rippled with a smile or stained with a tear. I think 
there is a truer picture of the Indian, as a natural human being 
with a heart that feels pain and pleasure, with a mind that ap- 
preciates the good and bad, the true and false, with a spirit that 
enjoys home and companions and friendship, with a life that 
throbs with love and sentiment. The Indian I knew loved and 
laughed with his children, visited his neighbor, had warm per- 
sonal friendships, and loved the life of peaceful contentment 
he was living, a life near to nature. 

I have often visited the Sioux and Winnebago and passed long 
pleasant hours in their wigwams, talking with them on various 
subjects as we sat circled about the glowdng fire. I have heard 
the laugh of their children and seen them frolic about as happy 
as any young ones I ever saw. I have seen them play games 
and join in sports, and they were as interesting to watch as 
other children. Of course there were some whose barbarous 
nature was revealed. There are some white people also whose 
barbarous nature gets the upper hand of them. But take the 
Indian, all in all, he was a happy creature during the fur-trading 
days. 



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A War Party 

One August day in the fifties we went up the tamarack plum- 
ing, for the place was noted for its wild plums. "We had started 
to gather plums, and were intent on our work, when all of a sud- 
den the stillness of the slimmer solitude was broken by a yell, 
a war-cry uttered in its wild blood-curdling manner. On look- 
ing up I saw our party completely surrounded by a band of 
Sioux warriors. It was a war party out after Chippewa; they 
mistook us for their enemies, but soon saw their mistake and 
went peaceably away. We gathered our plums in safety and 
returned home, but we never forgot the surprise we received by 
the Sioux warriors. 



Primitive Justice 

In cases of murder in the tribe the guilty party was given a 
trial. Witnesses were called to testify and speakers were 
chosen for and against the defendant. If the accused person 
was found guilty, a council was held to detennine the punish- 
ment. They usually ordered the murderer killed in the same 
manner he used in slaying his victim — death by shooting, stab- 
bing, or tomahawking as the case might be. In some cases the 
accused would redeem himself by furnishing enough goods 
such as ponies, furs, or weapons, to secure his liberty; these 
goods which were distributed among the dead person's im- 
mediate relatives, prevented retaliation on their part. 



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